


Royalty

by nicostolemybones (fatherlords)



Series: AUctober 2019 [6]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Bastardised Nico, Bastardised Will, Flirting, Historical AU, M/M, both illegitimate children, pre-dating, set in Tudor England, solangelo, swearing tw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:02:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21529504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fatherlords/pseuds/nicostolemybones
Summary: Will is the Bastard son of Henry VIII. It's boy meets boy but historical basically. Not 100% historically accurate ofc but close enoughI do not give permission for my work to appear on any apps nor do I consent to my work being reposted anywhere. If you see my work outside of my tumblr or outside of any blogs/accounts I mention in my fics, please report/contact them or inform me. If you report them, do not report as if it were your own work.My tumblr is @nicohasahappymeal
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: AUctober 2019 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1550413
Comments: 6
Kudos: 43





	Royalty

Dearest Elizabeth,  
I do not wish to alarm you, but there is news that His Majesty is gravely sick. This concerns me- whilst I may be old enough to take the throne, I am still born out of wedlock and scandal. As a result, upon his untimely death, Edward will take the throne. He is but a boy of nine, and I fear for the throne. My only hope is that his young age prevents our sister Mary from ascending to power out of fear she will bring back the old ways. I will attempt to find a wife, perhaps from Burgundy or Aragon, in an attempt to form an alliance strong enough to boost my claim to the throne. I may be seen as a usurper if I do so, given Edward has the strongest biological claim, then Mary, then you. However, I do not believe that the country will be safe in the hands of a boy and I do not believe a return to Catholicism under Mary is best given the staunchly protestant demographic.  
Kindest regards, William, Duke of Birmingham.

Will sealed his letter with a wax stamp and sighed, leaving it on his desk for now. He was already dressed for a ball later that evening, where he would attempt to find a woman with whom to form a marriage alliance. Perhaps a Habsburg would make for the best alliance, given the power over the Holy Roman Empire. 

By the time Will was at the ball, he was rather very bored already. The music was tediously slow, the women were staunchly uninterested in somebody with no power over the monarchy, and most talk between the other nobility and gentry was politics. There was talk of more rebellion from within the Privy Chamber, bribery, temporary alliances. The majority of the conversations were dominated by his father’s religious policy, and how it affected his ties with the Habsburg Monarchy- not to mention the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximillian I was related to Margaret of Burgundy- her son-in-law? (was it? Will wasn’t very up to date with the dramas). Families were complicated, and by complicated, he meant that everybody was related somehow. He’d have to ask around and find out for sure. So Will wasn’t holding out much hope for finding a marriage alliance. After a particularly long conversation with the Earl of Essex, he decided some fresh air may prevent him from ripping his flesh to smithereens. 

That’s when he saw him. A man his age, stood leaning against the wall like a commoner with a glass of wine in his hand, wearing fancy dress robes in dark purples and golds. Will wondered if the boy was a prince, to be so rich. He hoped so. Will stood beside him, and the man turned his head, looking Will up and down. “And you would be…?”

“William Solace, Duke of Birmingham. And you would be?”

“Niccolò di Angelo, a Venetian Bastard.”

“A bastard son of whom?”

“Does it matter?”

“Good point,” Will replied, huffing a laugh, “I’m the King of England’s bastard.”

Nico chuckled, deep and sophisticated, impossibly smooth and measured, almost cold. “Of course you are. You must be so inbred to be related to a Tudor.”

“Don’t remind me,” Will blanched. 

“Who isn’t these days,” Nico replied, and Will leaned against the wall. “I see you have no etiquette.”

“Neither do you. Why are you at the ball?”

“Same reason as you. Keep up appearances, wive it wealthily.”

“A dowry of twenty thousand crowns would be nice right about now.”

“Aye, I’d have to agree. Not that I’m particularly interested or inclined to take a wife.”

“Yes, because being a bachelor is so much better. At least a marriage would bring us a voice to use, a steady foot in the door. Maybe I could afford to travel to Oxford. I’d like to study medicine.”

“Aren’t you a little old for that, what are you, eighteen?”

“Twenty. Not to mention I was too sick to attend university at fourteen.”

“So you aren’t interested in a pretty wife to start a family?” Will scoffed, and Nico raised an eyebrow. “Well this is scandalous,” he grinned, sipping his wine, his eyes alight with the new knowledge. “The bastard son of the King of England is queer. Who would have expected it?”

“If you know what’s best for you, you will say no more on the matter. Should I be executed, my sister shall avenge me.”

“I doubt that, William,” Nico replied, leaning off the wall and watching Will in interest, “have you ever indulged your thoughts?”

“God, no!” Will protested.

“If you’d like to,” Nico replied smoothly, leaning close enough to whisper in Will’s ear, “meet me in my bedchambers by sundown and find out.” The Venetian man walked away, swaying his hips slightly. He glanced over his shoulder one last time with a smirk, before rejoining the ball and taking the hand of a young woman, leading her to dance. Will never thought he’d ever anticipate the fall of the sun quite so much. He was sure he’d be erased from history for this, but hey, he had nothing left to lose, in his opinion. 

So Will found himself nervously knocking on the door to Nico’s bedchambers in the dead of night. It must have been around midnight, although it was hard to tell the time without the sun, and Will couldn’t see any clocks nearby. The door opened, and Nico was stood in cotton bedclothes, a slight smirk on his face. Will wasted no time in stepping in- he had no intentions of getting caught. “You uh- you’re in your bedclothes,” Will said, blushing red to his ears. 

“Yes, and I must confess, I’m a little disappointed that you aren’t,” Nico replied smoothly, pulling Will deeper into the room by his cravat. 

“Uh- I uh- I’ve never done anything like this before,” Will stammered, and Nico smiled gently.

“We don’t have to start anything now,” he replied gently, instead holding his hand out for Will, “how about a dance? We never had the opportunity to dance together at the party, and it would be nice to share a dance with you.” Will took his hand, and Nico began to dance. Will was not prepared, stumbling and tripping over Nico’s feet, but Nico didn’t say a word- he just chuckled and slowed down, leading Will until he fell into step. Will’s heart was pounding- he’d never imagined indulging in a dance with another man, such an intimate act. And Nico was holding him delicately, but there was a strength in the way he held him, something so masculine in his movements that had Will thrilled. 

And that single dance was the start of years of scandalous romance.


End file.
